Pitane (Aeolis) Çandarlı

The site of ancient Pitane, noted more for its excellently pre-served Venetian castle than its ruins of the Greek period when the city held a place in the Aeolian Confederation, is o pleasant place to spend an afternoon by the seaside taking in the sights. The ancient city is found on the small peninsula jutting into the North Aegean Seo at the Turkish town of Candarli. It is about twenty-five miles from Bergama with the road passing twice over the Bakır Çayı River, the Caicus of antiquity, as it makes its way ever southward to the blue Aegean.

Çandarlı is a coastal township with own municipality within the district of Dikili in western Turkey’s İzmir Province. It is a well-developed town and an important tourist resort. Çandarlı is situated on the northern coast of the (Gulf of Çandarlı) and opposite the important industrial center of Aliağa, another district center.The town’s landmark is the 15th century Ottoman castle built by the Grand Vizier Çandarlı (2nd) Halil Pasha (to distinguish from his homonymous grandfather). The castle, built to protect the Sultan Murat II who preferred to reside in nearby Manisa from a possible outside attack, is fully intact and open to visitors.The Grand Vizier gave the town its present name. Çandarlı’s name in antiquity was Pitane. The ruins are situated slightly outside the town itself.

History Of Pitane : The city was a member of the league of eleven Aeolian cities that was formed shortly after the Greek settlement of Western Anatolia. The Aeolians, thought to have migrated from the northeastern part of Greece, established themselves above what was to become Ionia, in the northern coastal areo of Asia Minor…>>

Ruins Of Pitane : Of the remains of the Aeolian Greeks In Pitane, little is to be found by the visitor, What did exist in former years has been devastated and plundered for the construction of later buildings...>>